Agricultural policy bank\'s NPL ratio down to 0.92%

The non-performing loan (NPL) ratio at the Agricultural Development Bank of China, one of the country\'s three policy banks, decreased to 0.92 percent by the end of June, according to data issued on Sunday. The ratio was 0.07 percentage points lower than that logged at the start of the year, the lender said at a briefing meeting attended by the heads of its branches. The value of its NPLs fell to 21.64 billion yuan (3.5 billion U.S. dollars) at the end of June, down 79.41 million yuan from the year\'s beginning. Operating profits rose 13.6 percent year on year to 24.34 billion yuan during the first half, the lender said. The bank\'s outstanding loans reached 2.36 trillion yuan at the end of June and it has extended 217 billion yuan in loans to support agricultural development and rural infrastructure construction during the first six months of the year, according to the bank.